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Date:	1100-2000
History:	John Churchill (1650-1722), general and statesman, was created Duke of Marlborough in 1702, and was granted the manor of Woodstock and hundred of Wootton (Oxfordshire). He began the construction of Blenheim Palace near Woodstock in 1705. In 1678 he had married Sarah, daughter and co-heir of Richard Jennings of Sandridge (Hertfordshire). The properties inherited by her, however, together with the estates purchased by her in Surrey and other counties, passed at her death in 1744 to her grandson John Spencer, younger brother of the 5th Earl of Sunderland (see Spencer, Earls Spencer). Estates in Wiltshire (Overton, Lockeridge, West Lavington, etc) were acquired from 1709 onwards, and estates in Buckinghamshire (Waddesdon, etc) in 1725. In 1722 the Duke of Marlborough was succeeded in the dukedom and the Blenheim estates by his eldest daughter Henrietta, wife of the 2nd Earl of Godolphin. On her death in 1733 they passed to her nephew Charles Spencer, 5th Earl of Sunderland as 3rd Duke of Marlborough (see Spencer, Earls Spencer, and, for the descent of the Godolphin estates, Osborne, Dukes of Leeds). In 1751 the 3rd Duke purchased the Cornbury (Oxfordshire) estate, but this, with West Lavington, was settled on a younger son of the 4th Duke, created Baron Churchill in 1815. The Blenheim estates in Oxfordshire were consolidated between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries, but the remaining Wiltshire estates were reduced by sales c.1866-77, and the Buckinghamshire estate was sold to Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1875. Property in Sussex was acquired by Lord Robert Spencer, third son of the 3rd Duke, in the late 18th century, but passed out of the family on his death in 1831. Estates in 1883: Oxon 21,944 acres, Wilts 1,534 acres, Berks 33 acres, total 23,511 acres worth £36,557 a year.
Places:	Agney, Kent Bath, Somerset Begbroke, Oxfordshire Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire Cassington, Oxfordshire Charlbury, Oxfordshire Cople, Bedfordshire Hensington, Oxfordshire Ingoldsby, Lincolnshire Langley, Buckinghamshire Lockeridge, Wiltshire Marlborough House, London North Leigh, Oxfordshire Overton, Wiltshire Rowde, Wiltshire Sandridge, Hertfordshire Sunderland House, London Upper Winchendon, Buckinghamshire Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire West Lavington, Wiltshire Witney, Oxfordshire Woodstock, Oxfordshire Woolbeding, Sussex
Sources of authority:	Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Guide to principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999
Name authority reference:	GB/NNAF/F88850 (Former ISAAR ref: GB/NNAF/F10792 )

Collections
Number	Description	Held by	Reference	Further information
1	12th cent-20th cent: Oxon (Blenheim Palace, North Leigh, Witney, Woodstock, etc) deeds 13th-20th cent and manorial records, estate, household and Churchill, Spencer and Spencer-Churchill family papers 16th-20th cent, incl Trevor family papers 18th cent, with Beds (Cople, etc) estate papers mid 18th cent, Bucks (Waddesdon, etc) deeds 12th-19th cent and estate papers 18th-19th cent, Wilts (Lockeridge, West Lavington, etc) deeds and manorial, estate and household papers 16th-19th cent, misc deeds and papers rel to Lincs (Ingoldsby, etc), London and Sussex (Woolbeding, etc) estates 17th-19th cent and to Jennings family property in Herts (Sandridge, etc), Kent (Agney) and London 14th-18th cent and household papers for Langley (Bucks) 1721, c1756, Upper Winchendon (Bucks) 1789, London (Marlborough House 1709-10, 1740 and Sunderland House 1722), Hensington (Oxon) c1767-70 and Bath (Somerset) 1783, etc	Blenheim Palace		NRA 8130 Churchill See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98a]
2	1705-1727: Blenheim Palace (Oxon) building papers	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Add MSS 19591-19618	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98c]
3	1790-1866: Oxon (Blenheim Palace, etc) deeds, legal and estate papers	Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections	MSS Dep. Deeds Hautenville Cope c. 1-4	NRA 3966 Cope See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98h]
4	1761: Charlbury and Walcot (Oxon) estate survey	Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections	Dep. c. 379	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98i]
5	1722-1809: Blenheim Palace (Oxon) building papers 1722-32 and papers of Joseph Brooks of Woodstock (Oxon) as agent of the 4th Duke of Marlborough mainly 1798-1809	Royal Berkshire Archives	D/ESv(B) F29-30, (M) B6-18	NRA 10469 Stevens See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98l]
6	1705-1710: Blenheim Palace (Oxon) garden accounts	Unknown location		See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98m]
7	1736-1746: misc Potton (Beds) deeds and papers	Bedfordshire Archives	Z 980/1	NRA 6970 Bedfordshire misc
8	1758-1812: Wilts (West Lavington, etc) estate surveys and valuation	Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre	WRO 79	NRA 881 Elwell See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98k]
9	17th cent-19th cent: Wilts (Lockeridge, Overton, Rowde, West Lavington, etc) legal and estate papers	Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre	WRO 1033	NRA 881 Elwell
10	16th cent-19th cent: Churchill, Spencer and Spencer-Churchill family legal, military, official, political and personal papers, incl papers of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), Sarah, duch*ess of Marlborough (1660-1744) and Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (d1722) 16th-19th cent, with papers of the Trevor family 17th-18th cent	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Add Ch 76069-76142; Add MSS 61101-61710	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98b]
11	1698-1784: misc Churchill and Spencer-Churchill family papers, mainly of Sarah, duch*ess of Marlborough (1660-1744)	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Eg MS 2678	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98e]
12	1706-1926: misc Churchill, Spencer and Spencer-Churchill family letters	Library of Congress, Manuscript Division	Acc 3569	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98t]
13	early 18th cent: Churchill family trust papers	Northamptonshire Archives Service	S(A)	NRA 10410 Spencer See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [97a]
14	c1740-1770: Churchill and Spencer-Churchill family settlement and trust papers	Bedford Estates		NRA 26179 Russell See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [90i]
15	1697-1714: corresp and papers of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) and Adam Cardonnel (d1719)	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Add MSS 70938-46	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98d]
16	1711-1718: letters of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) and Sarah, duch*ess of Marlborough (1660-1744)	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Stowe MS 751	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98f]
17	1781-1797: astronomical corresp and papers of the 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817)	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Add MS 72847	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98g]
18	1705: journal of Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (d1722)	Oxford University: Bodleian Library, Special Collections	MS Rawl. d. 601	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98j]
19	1697-1714: corresp and papers of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722)	British Library, Manuscript Collections	Add MSS 70938-46	NRA 29995 See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98n]
20	1737-1741: legal corresp of Sarah, duch*ess of Marlborough (1660-1744)	Yale University Libraries: Beinecke Library	Osborn MSS fc 25	NRA 18661 Osborn coll See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98o]
21	1704-1724: misc accounts and papers of the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) and Sarah, duch*ess of Marlborough (1660-1744)	Hove Library	Wolseley/RUSI MSS	NRA 10471 Wolseley See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98p]
22	1704-1710: American papers of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland (d1722)	Huntington Library	NUC MS 61-1557	See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98q]
23	further papers of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland (d1722)	Maryland Historical Society		See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98q]
24	mainly late 18th cent: astronomical papers of the 4th Duke of Marlborough (1739-1817), with those of Thomas Hornsby (1733-1810)	Oxford University: History of Science Museum	MSS Radcliffe 15-16, 35-40, 75	NRA 9532 Oxford scientific See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98r]
25	1840-1880: political corresp and papers of the 7th Duke of Marlborough (1822-1883)	Cambridge University Library: Department of Manuscripts and University Archives	MS Add 9271	NRA 38803 See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [98s]
26	c1682-1769: corresp and papers of the 1st Duke of Marlborough and Sarah, duchess of Marlborough, c1682-1744, with household accounts (Blenheim Palace, Marlborough House, etc) c1690-1749 and papers of the duchess of Marlborough's executors and trustees mainly 1744-69	British Library, Manuscript Collections		See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [97d]
27	early 18th cent: executorship accounts of the 3rd Earl of Sunderland (d1722)	Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society	DD 5	NRA 12923 Dukes Leeds See HMC Principal family and estate collections L-W, 1999 [78a]